Manchester United are only prepared to pay €70m (£63m) for Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly and are waiting to see whether president Aurelio De Laurentiis will drop his asking price, according to the Gazzetta Dello Sport.

The Partenopei have been insisting interested clubs pay €100m (£90m) for the 29-year-old but no club has come near to matching that valuation so far.

United’s rivals Manchester City have been mentioned as another possible suitor for Koulibaly but Gazzetta claim United are the only team prepared to put money on the table at the moment.

If the situation doesn’t change, the Italian newspaper say that “Koulibaly will move to England” as Napoli won’t be able to refuse that figure as they look to balance the club’s books.

The Serie A side failed to qualify for the Champions League and have already spent a significant sum on Lille’s Victor Osimhen. It seems United are playing the waiting game for De Laurentiis to lower his demands.